Pokemon tales from across the World
by lil' white Raven
Summary: Folktales and legends writen for the pokemon world based off dex entries, tales in both our world and theirs, and a dash of creativity. Any stories within may be used or referenced by other fics with permission. K for now but rating may rise.
1. Chapter 1

**The Spearhead of the Sky.**  
><em>(Also known by the titles 'Berani and the Mata Jiwa', 'How the compass stars reached the sky' and 'Mata Jiwa's Treasure'.)<em>

Long, long ago, when man was just a pokemon not wearing his fur, there was a deep dark cave on an island to the far south. Within this cave was said to be a treasure so great it was worth more than all the gold and jewels in the world.

Hearing word of this many thieves and those filled with greed came to the cave with evil intent in their hearts.  
>But for every person that entered the cave wicked, by the end of the next day that same person would run out of the cave and all the way to the nearby village with tears streaming down his or her face renouncing their evil ways. For those that failed to keep their word, three days later they would die.<p>

Because of this the cave was named 'The cave of the Blessed curse' and none would dare to enter it.

One day a young slave girl from the far north and un-aware of the cave's legends, ran into the cave trying to flee from her cruel master.  
>Berani was a small and wiry thing, with hair as blazing red as an inferno and skin as dark as powered coco, and despite how hard she had worked each day for him, her arms, legs and back were covered in scars and wounds left by her master's chain and whip.<p>

Terrified that he that would chase her all the way to this distant place, Berani headed deeper into the cave, trailing her hand against the wall so she would not get lost in the darkness.

Deeper and deeper she wandered into the cave, each step the walls becoming damper and the ground more uneven.  
>Eventually the rough path became too much for the exhausted Berani and she slipped, rolling head over heels down the deep tunnel until she finally stopped at the bottom. And there, right in front of her eyes sat a brightly glowing ruby so bright and clear that it made ever her hair pale in comparison.<p>

Enchanted by its beauty, Berani reached out to take it from its hold but was distracted by the sound of ragged tears. Unable to ignore the crying, Berani reluctantly pulled herself away from the precious gem and headed deeper into the darkness where she thought it was coming from. Gradually her eyes saw that she was in a great cavern, and chained to a rock in the cavern's centre was a small pokemon with a large set of jaws coming out of the back of its head.

"Who are you?" Berani asked as she knelt to look the pokemon in the eye. "Why have you been left chained and crying all alone in this cave?"

The pokemon jumped up at Berani's questions and before any words could be said, the jaw on the back of its head lunged and bit the air. Berani stood back.

"You want to know who I am? I am Sabar, a Mawile trickster who weeps at my lover's betrayal." The Mawile's voice was so sad and bitter that Berani could not look away. "He was a human so I too became human. But when he discovered my truest form, despite the pledge he made to love me no matter what, he chained me here and told me to live the rest of my life alone. Now my jaws bite only at humans, the only creatures who could release me. I shall never be free!"

With this the pokemon again began to wail and sob. Feeling sympathy as another who had been bound against her will, Berani ignored her fear of the pokemon and leapt over the Mawile's jaws. She tugged at the chains and struck them many times with stone, but they did not brake and the Mawile let out a cry of despair.

As if in reply to their unspoken prayers, a small pokemon trotted up to them, his body as pale and shiny as refined silver. Placing his heavy paws on Berani's leg the pokemon let out a pitiful cry.

"Could you please give me some food? I have only just hatched and I am very hungry."

Berani and the Mawile both scrabbled to find something edible for the baby pokemon but no food could be found. Sadly Berani shook her head.

"I am sorry but we have no food. Isn't there anywhere else you could look?"

Bewildered the baby shook his head. "Why do lie? There is clearly food curled right behind you. Some of it is even around your neck!"

Confused Berani and the Mawile looked around for this 'food' but none could be found. When they said as much to the baby he replied with an angry roar.

"It is right there! If you cannot see it, then you obviously don't need it. I shall eat it for you." Not waiting for a reply, the pokemon then rushed between the two and gnawed at the Mawile's chains. Struck by the realisation of what the baby pokemon meant by food, Berani set to work chiselling at the metal with a stone, in order to help the baby through his meal.

Finally no chains were left and so thankful to the baby that set her free, the Mawile placed a paw upon the young pokemon's head and christened him with the name 'Harap' for the hope he had restored within her.

The moment she did so, the ruby from the tunnel behind them began to glow, and from its light stepped the Sableye incarnation of the ruler of heavens, the great god Pandai-Panduan.

At the sight of Pandai-Panduan all three immediately bowed their heads but Pandai-Panduan lifted each one with a claw and gave them all a mighty smile.

"Before you, came many with evil to this cave. Away I sent them, with dreams and visions of their own imaginings.

When you each came to the cave, I knew that three great gifts of courage, patience and hope I gifted to each one of you long ago; but when you met, the greatest treasure of all, the first bond of friendship was formed between you.

Join me to live among the star filled heavens. I am along in guarding these lands from the south. A blazing soul is needed to light the way to the north, a wise blue to the eastern seas and an earnest silver to the west. By leaving the images of our souls as stars, together we shall watch over all those scared, hurt and alone and guide them on all but the darkest of nights."

Berani and the two pokemon agreed and following the Sableye of the stars they climbed through the tunnels of the cave until they reached the peak where they jumped into the heavens and each became stars.

And to this day, if one looks up the four stars in the shape of a spearhead, they can see Berani the red to the north, Sabar the blue to the east, Harap the silver to the west, and Pandai-Panduan golden star as always, ever looking out to the south.

_Cultural notes: Pandai-Panduan is god worshipped by many traditional land owners all over south west, eastern and central Hoenn and festivals celebrating Minggu Bangun (a Pandai-Panduan festival held after a solar eclipse) are held all over Hoenn, with the largest held at Mossdeep Island.  
>Despite fitting a number of trickster archetypes, Pandai-Panduan is notably never portrayed as selfish or evil, and to this day his teachings, the Bijaksana Hidup Sutras are considered some of best records of ancient philosophy anywhere in the world and unlike some other religious texts many of the teachings are still valid today.<em>

_Pandai-Panduan is also known for taking many incarnations, and while this story features his famous Sableye (Mata Jiwa) form, he is also known for taking the form of a soft spoken woman (Pandai Wanita), an elderly man (Mendengarken Tua) and the form of a Jirachi (Keinginan Memberi). He is also said to dwell in the words of cautious wives and in times of great danger in the words of children._

...

**Author's note:**

Indonesian word translations: Berani = Brave. Harap = hope. Sabar = Patient. Pandai = clever. Panduan = guide. Mata = eyes. Wanita = woman. Jiwa = spirit. Keinginan = wish. Memberi = gave. Tua = elder. Mendengarken = Listen to. Hidup = Live.


	2. Gift of the Will'o'Wisp

**Gift of the will-o-wisp.  
><strong>_(Also known by the titles 'Harmaa and the flame', 'How the Yamask came to be' and 'The Traveler's friend'.)_

A long long time ago, when the twin dragons of truth and ideal were one and dwelled with the dragon of possibility and ruin in the sky above, there was a young man who tried to earn his fortune.

The man, Harmaa, had been born in tiny hamlet by the ocean and had left his homeland for a city far to the north, in order to earn the wealth he needed for his family to escape the poverty in which they lived.

However, for whatever reason the gods did not favour him and his journey was rife with misfortune.

When given grain in replacement for money by a farmer he worked for, the grain he was given turned out to be rotting and full of mould. When he earned a good deal of pay for catching the largest net full of fish the fishermen had seen in years, he was afterwards beaten by solders and had the money stolen. And when, after months of hard work digging in a nearby mine he struck upon a vein of the purest gold, the church claimed the site was holy and the gold he had found was taken in the name of the gods.

The once proud boy that had no intention of returning to his homeland without the money his family now travelled back across the land with that one goal in mind; because for all that his hamlet had been poor and hungry, the people there had been honest and kind, and had never inspired the kind of bitterness in him that he now felt down to his very core.  
>And so it was, that in his travels back to his hamlet that Harmaa was too wary and bitter to ask the locals about the nearby mountain, and thus was not warned of the marsh-filled woods and the creatures that dwelt there.<p>

Unaware of the danger he was courting; Harmaa quickly made his way up the mountain and entered the forest. Almost immediately a mysterious chill began to climb its way through his body, frightening pokemon calls echoed around him and after ignoring both warnings, his head began to ache with pain. For little did Harmaa know that the forest had been claimed by pokemon since ancient times and humans had long been forbidden from treading such holy ground.

Cold, miserable and confused by what was happening to him; he continued to stagger through the woods, wishing fervently that he would find a lodge or house in which to rest.

His wishes were not granted and as day eventually turned into night, Harmaa could not travel any further and was forced to set up camp. Finding a small, only damp clearing, he tried to pitch his tepee with little success, cursing as he realised he could not see it well enough to do so. As the words left his mouth, a small pale flame suddenly appeared beside him and illuminated the area with a soft blue light.

Frightened by this unnatural occurrence, Harmaa let out a scream of terror and leapt away but the blue flame did not move or waver and instead continued to glow as if undisturbed, as if to tell him it meant no harm.

Harmaa watched the flame wearily for some time but eventually the need to set up a place to sleep and get a meal in his belly began to out weight his fear, and he set up his tepee once more, all the while keeping a careful eye on the flame.

When he had finished and the flame had still not moved an inch, Harmaa began to wonder if the flame was actually a lonely hitodama* that had come to him for some companionship. Now feeling great pity for the flame, for there is no fate more tragic than for a soul than to wander in limbo alone for all eternity, Harmaa sat down next to the flame and prayed, asking the gods to allow its soul to move onto the next life and thanking the flame for generously helping him with its light.  
>When he finished with the prayer, the flame flickered for a moment before disappearing entirely, and Harmaa went to sleep in his tepee, satisfied he had seemingly aided a lonely soul.<p>

...

The next morning compared to the day before was a bright and cheerful one. With no pain raking his mind and no threatening chills and calls made to scare him away, Harmaa took his time through the marsh, admiring the beauty of the untouched landscape and the majesty of the many pokemon he saw along the way.

Eventually stopping to rest at a small waterhole, Harmaa was leaning towards the water in order to refill his flask when laughter suddenly sounded out behind him. Startled, he lost his balance and fell into the pool with a mighty splash.

However before he could drown, a blue light surrounded him and gently lifted him out of the pool and placed right in front of the hitodama from the day before which then began to glow with a dazzling light and transformed into the shape of a lantern, its golden eyes twinkling brightly with amusement above the pale blue flame in its centre. Seeing the bewilderment in his eyes, the creature giggled in a voice not unlike that of a human woman, and proceeded to light a small fire at his feet and wipe water off his face with its arms.

It was at this moment that Harmaa realised that the hitodama had actually been a pokemon the entire time. As if to further prove her deception, the Lampent then spoke to him with speech of the mind as she continued to wipe him free of water.

"_Many apologies for my behaviour, kind hearted human. My kind is naturally mischievous and I did not imagine that you would fall into the spring. Please, sit and warm your body by my fire... And allow me to ask a great boon of you."_

Harmaa was mistrustful of the Lampent and talk of him granting anyone favours made him more wary still, but as she was a pokemon and ancient custom demanded that one must listen if a pokemon chose speak, he allowed himself to be seated by her fire and listened to her plea.

"_Before when I appeared to you, I was under a curse placed upon me a powerful and wicked demon. The curse sapped me of my strength, my freedom, and even my very form, leaving me helpless and trapped in the appearance of a mere flame. But because of last night when you offered to me such a heartfelt prayer of thanks, the gods intervened on your behalf and set me free. Such a thing I can never fully repay, however..._ _I must plead with you to help me once more. _

_The demon before it cursed me, slew my father, the ruler of this land, and now wears his form as one would wear a sheet of clothe! As if this was not enough, it holds my father's honoured guest, a mighty pokemon of great wisdom and renown, prisoner within his very own flames. _

_Please, help me slay the demon and free my father's honoured guest. Only a human may slay a demon, and you are the only human I have ever known with the courage to enter our forest, let alone aid me as you have already done."_

The pokemon's voice was one of honesty and tears of hot oil flowed fresh from her cheeks, but Harmaa, the memories of deceit and trickery dealt to him still vivid in his mind, was unsure of her word and asked her a question he was sure would reveal her intentions one way or the other.

"_Tell me pokemon of the forest, if I aid you in killing this demon, what will I get in return? Humans can work without rewards but I'm not so generous as to risk my life for no gain. What reward could you possibly give me in return? Money? Jewels?"_

The Lampent flickered as if blown by a fierce wind and looked up at the human with earnest eyes.

"_Things to be owned, like money and jewels, are of no importance to pokemon and thus I have none. I can lead you to the ripest berries and cleanse the water you drink, I can burn away your foes and illuminate even the darkest night, but I cannot give you what I do not have... Even so, I ask of you, please allow me this one request. _

_For if we succeed, I, the one known as Faeu, shall stay by your side for all eternity; I shall share your pain and your sorrows, your hopes and your dreams. And should it ever be needed, I will guide you to the next life with my own flames and speak on your behalf to the very gods themselves, for that is the very least I can do for you."_

Harmaa, now sure that every word the pokemon spoke was truth and touched by her words, pledged his aid and the two of them travelled to the hidden depths of the woods where the demon dwelled.

As they neared the demon's lair, the land around them became more and more barren. Where trees should have grown, scorched earth covered the ground. Where creatures to slow to escape the demon's wrath had been only the charred remains had been left behind.

Finally the two reached their destination, a great dip in the landscape littered with ash and the bones of pokemon and there, in the very centre of the depression floated the demon.

It's outer form was that of a Chandelure's but instead of the gentle blue or purple flames such pokemon possessed, its flame burned a crimson red like fresh dripping blood, and its eyes which should have been the warm yellow of the setting sun instead glowed orange with mad fury and looked as if they had been lit by the very fires of hell itself.

Spotting them, the creature let out a blood chilling scream and lashed out at them with its flames; the battle as swift to begin as it was deadly.

Faeu struck back at the creature with her own flame as Harmaa rolled underneath the attacks and lunged for the demon's body, knocking it back with a tackle before grabbing it with his bare hands.  
>Skin sizzled and burned as the demon struggled to free itself but Harmaa refused to release it and instead smashed the demon's glass head against the bone of one of its many victims, instantly shattering it into a million pieces.<p>

And instead of evil miasma, the flames from the demon's head escaped into the air and took the form of a giant rainbow coloured bird that, upon the sight of the demon's remains, burned them with ball of golden fire and flew off into the distant sky. As it did so, the golden flames died out and in place of the demon, a single stone darker and deeper than a night without stars appeared.

Realising it to be a reward from the great rainbow bird, her father's honoured guest, the Lampent ate it and was transformed into a Chandelure herself. She turned to Harmaa and smiled.

"_I shall stay by your side for all eternity. I shall share your pain and your sorrows, your hopes and your dreams. And one day, I will guide you to the next life with my own flames and speak on your behalf to the very gods themselves."_

Her vow repeated, the two of them left the forest and together set out for the land Harmaa called home.

...

In the months that followed, Harmaa and Faeu had many adventures together, meeting many people both kind and cruel along the way. And with each new encounter, the bonds of trust and kinship between them become stronger and stronger until the two were so inseparable that the gods themselves could not have torn them apart.

And so it was that the two spent so long travelling and having fun on their journey that they did not make it back to Harmaa's homeland for many long years. Eventually they found themselves heading down the last road, and Harmaa exuberantly raced down the hill, looking forward to seeing his home once more... But it was not as he remembered.

There were no huts or fishing nets lined the sea shore, no people or pokemon happily working or playing.  
>Instead stood the huts' charcoal remains and alone in the centre of where the hamlet once was, a single tomb of simple rock stood. On its side was written the names of his family and old friends; they had all died from illness but the old wise woman who had made the grave in the hopes of appeasing their spirits and had left soon afterwards.<p>

Harmaa dropped to his knees and he could not rise again, for his heart had broken. As a human, he could never recover.

But Faeu did her best to help him. She force fed him using her powers of the mind and made him sleep the same way; at night and even in the rain which stung her flames like needles, she did her best to keep away the cold with her warmth.

But it did little good; he never responded and the Chandelure could feel his existence slipping away more and more each moment. It was if only his body was living and the rest of him had already died.

Finally as the sun of midsummer began to set, his life began to draw to its end, and Faeu desperate, called out in anguish as she summoned her flames.

"_Please great gods of old, please lend me your strength! The human who once slew a great demon, who freed the bird of the sun his cage and the one I owe so much is dying right before my eyes and I can do nothing! Please help me repay him for all the good has done! Please... I will one day walk with him to the gates of the next life but now is not the time for that to happen!"_

And as she said that, with all her strength the Chandelure sent her searing flames at Harmaa's body, which caught alight and burned as if it was made of straw and not flesh.

In an instant the body was reduced to charred bone and ash, but before Faeu could weep at the realisation she had slain her dearest friend, the bones and ash were swept into the air by a mighty gust of wind and were made to hover right where they caught the last rays of sunlight, before they slowly took the form of a strange pokemon.

The pokemon, his head the same grey-black as the ash and the mask he held with his tail a tan as sunlight-tinted bones, opened his eyes and upon seeing the Chandelure, spoke the very first word his kind would ever speak.

"_Faeu? I..."_

The Chandelure embraced the Yamask before he could say anymore and holding one of his paws within her own she made a new vow, one she would keep for the rest of their existences.

"_I shall stay by your side for all eternity. I shall share your pain and your sorrows, your hopes and your dreams. And one day, perhaps not until the end time, I will journey with you to the next life and when you walk through that gate, I will be there with you, every step of the way._

_This I, the one who knows herself as Faeu, pledges to Harmaa, the one I love so very much."_

_**The end.**_

_Cultural notes: The tale 'Gift of the Will-o-wisp' is a cautionary tale told across north west Unova warning those who hear it to be cautious in all their dealings and to not trust appearances, as well as evidence of how people in ancient times regarded the Yamask and Litwick family pokemon of the area._

_Surprisingly, despite the many names, the tale rarely alters, though there is said to be a version in Ecruteak, Johto in which Ho-oh becoming trapped by a demon on the other side of the earth prevents the deity from returning to its home in time to protect the Brass Tower against destruction._

Well... That was sappy. _*sniff*_

Seriously though, normally I'm not that into romance, especially anything Ye-Olde fairytale style or pokemon/human but this time I just couldn't resist.  
>The whole 'sucks out souls with flame' thing for the Chandelure family and the Yamask all being human once and somehow turning into pokemon thing both worked really well with each other, and since ghost pokemon don't exactly revive people all the beeping time I kind of had to make the reason a bit more obvious than I normally would.<p>

Done mostly as the writing portion of Moonlightart's entry in the first PokeWorldLegends contest (PokeworldLegends is a group I set up on DeviantART for pokemon fans). She signed up for a partner in the Partner Rules section, but since it was the last week and nobody else had signed up I did the writing instead.

The original version of 'Gift of the Will-o-Wisp' as well as MoonlightArt's picture for it by the same name can be found in her gallery at DeviantART.  
>Please go take a look at it sometime~ X3<p>

Ps: To all my ToaNL fans, know that I'm still writing; I'm just taking a really, really long time. I am now roughly ¾ of the way through the current chapter. Just hang on for a little while longer, ok?

**Translation Notes:**

**Faeu:** Short for _faeu boulanger_ which is a lost-soul type of Will o Wisp found in Guernsey.

**Harmaa:** Finnish for _Grey_. I wanted the Bulgarian word for grey originally (since Cheren and Bianca mean black and white in that language respectively) but the only translation I could find was fairly loose and didn't sound all that good so I went language hopping.

**Blue flame VS Red flame**: The reason I used a red Chandelure (the shiny colouration) as the 'demon' in the story despite the fact I love the look and am a mad collector of shinys, is because of a supposed Argentina tradition regarding the **Luz Mala** (evil light) or **Fuego Fatuo** (fake fire) I found on Wikipedia:

'_If the light is white, it implies a soul in pain and is recommended to say a prayer, but if the light is red, the witness must flee immediately, thus the phenomenon represents the temptation of Satan.'_

The concept was simple, but it interested me and much to my surprise later when I was looking over Chandelure's page on Bulbapedia, Chandelure's shiny is red(ish). It was too fun to ignore really.


	3. The 18 Pillars

**The 18 Pillars.  
><strong>_(Also known as 'How the pokemon got their powers'. Verse 3, chapter 15 in the Book of Arceus.)_

In the beginning, there was only a swirling mass of nothingness. One day, an egg appeared in the nothingness and this being that hatched gave the nothingness its form.

This being then shaped the world, filled it with plants and animals, and then with the help of Mew, who had come from beyond the nothingness laid three eggs.

One egg contained the three beings of matter. The second, the beings of the soul.

But the third egg was different. After many millennia since the first two eggs hatched and their descendents had infested the earth, the third egg finally cracked open and from it came humans, who instead of wielding power told the other descendents of Mew and the Original one of their ideals and ambitions, teaching them of things beyond good and evil, and of the first laws they had made.

Before the law, pokemon had lived wild and free. Angered by the human's presumptions to control them, the pokemon fought their siblings and the humans without power quickly fell before them.

Saddened by this, the Original one made a pokemon he imbued with a great portion of his power and his will. This being was soon named by the humans as 'Arceus' which meant 'Original form' in their ancient language.

Arceus, able to understand the pokemon better than their creator soon realised that the reason for all this confusion was a misunderstanding and in order to make right the world, new laws had to be made.

Thrusting 17 spears into the ground, Arceus imbued them with his own power and on each of these spears the duty of each of the 17 tribes of power was engraved. These spears, named the Pillars of Foundation were placed in this order and read thusly;

'Stone: The foundations of the earth. Those would lay the stepping stones for all others to cross and present obstacles for others to surpass.  
>Patient and strong. Dim and stubborn.<br>Must learn to accept one's own weaknesses and help others with theirs.

Water: The essence of life. Those tasked with purifying and renewing; their lives many and intertwined.  
>Wise and calm. Vain and weak-willed.<br>Must learn to not only accept change but to fight for virtue also.

Fire: The essence of destruction. Those tasked with destruction so all can begin anew. Their lives intense and full of never-ending conflict.  
>Strong and brave. Destructive and vain.<br>Must learn that destruction is necessary but never to be taken lightly.

Grass: The caretakers of nature. Those who care for the land and make it healthy for all, whilst protecting it from harm.  
>Calm and gentle. Headstrong and self-righteous.<br>Must learn to accept others and grow from meeting them.

Air: The weavers of dreams. Those who inspire and sing, their exploits reaching the heavens, while their wings long for the sky.  
>Creative and determined. Reckless and judgemental.<br>Must learn to think before acting on a whim.

Poison: The warnings of nature. Those who warn others when the land is ill and must be protected, taking upon themselves the burdens of nature and changing it into their strength.  
>Clever and determined. Ruthless and vain.<br>Must learn to ignore the desire to abuse others for their benefit.

Earth: The weavers of patience. Those who see dreams and set about turning them into reality, their work rarely acknowledged but always appreciated.  
>Practical and patient. Headstrong and hesitant.<br>Must learn to embrace the new as well as the old.

Metal: The pillars of the earth. Those who hold the world steady when all else crumbles to dust, and help to rebuild the shattered remains.  
>Patient and brave. Unyielding and judgemental.<br>Must learn to rely on others.

Psychic: The foundations of the mind. Those who seek wisdom, connection and perfection, the driving forces behind all that live.  
>Cunning and practical. Narrow-minded and vain.<br>Must learn to be patient and not to give into temptation.

Ghost: The caretakers of memories. Those who exist between this world and the next, their souls formed of memories for reasons never meant to be known.  
>Cunning and creative. Reckless and fickle.<br>Must learn the difference between the truth and lies of their own making.

Bug: The pillars of change. Those who live, ever changing, their form and will inherited and passed on endlessly throughout the passage of time.  
>Practical and truthful. Dim and Narrow-minded.<br>Must learn to think for one's self.

Ice: The warning of truth. Those who choose to live separate from others, seeing all truths both beautiful and ugly. Their words can pierce the heavens.  
>Truthful and calm. Ruthless and unyielding.<br>Must not give in to loneliness or turn a blind eye to the truths around them.

Fighting: The wellspring of hope. Those spurned ever onwards by their feelings, always training for the single goal tucked away deep inside their hearts.  
>Truthful and brave. Proud and destructive.<br>Must not give in to slothfulness or rage; both weaken the spirit.

Electric: The essence of the moment. Those who live for that single instant when the senses come alive, and mind, heart and body are one in the rush of the moment.  
>Creative and brave. Reckless and self-righteous.<br>Must not ignore the advice of others.

Dark: The wellspring of loyalty. Those who's courage and care exists only for a select few. Their oaths and loyalties can never be broken.  
>Cunning and brave. Ruthless and destructive.<br>Must never swear fealty to one unworthy of it.

Dragon: The servants of the heavens. Those whose power rivals that of gods. The punishers of evil and those who must never lose the way.  
>Wise and strong. Proud and self-righteous.<br>Must never lose humility, or allow anger to overwhelm one's being.

Base: The servants of the balance. Those who lack elemental force and wisdom. Instead they are uniquely blessed, as they maintain their balance of the world merely by drawing breathe and existing.  
>Free to choose any path they desire.'<p>

When the pokemon read the engravings the words became reality and bound the pokemon to their power. Still feeling that his work was undone, Arceus then made one last enormous spear as long as a mountain is tall and slammed it into the middle of the other 17 pillars, splitting the land in two. He then turned to the humans and spoke for the first time.

"This spear is for the humans, the rulers of beasts alone. None but those I have chosen may ever look upon it. Obey the laws written as they are your own.

Harm not the pokemon, lest they harm you.

Harm not the world, lest it betray you.

Harm not each other, lest your own destruction comes forth."

Then using the thousand golden threads that fell from the wheel that held his body together, Arceus weaved them around the pillar turning the spear into a mountain. On top of this mountain, he then made a palace of light in which he placed a small stone crown.

"Upon you who are powerless and thought to create law, I shall now place a blessing and a curse. The pokemon who wronged you will now be bound at your side forever; in return for following your word they will obtain power they never would have dreamed possible.

That is your blessing for daring to dream.

But you who have allowed law to be made will one day allow the law to break. When this day comes the pokemon shall turn on their human brethren and humans will lose the ability to hear the pokemon's voices.  
>On this day, these 18 pillars will collapse and humans will have to earn the loyalty of the pokemon themselves, one pillar at a time.<p>

That is your curse for challenging the order of nature and my will!"

Arceus then disappeared into the castle of light to sleep until the world needed him once more. The minute he did so, the castle vanished completely.

Mew, who had watched since the beginning without interfering watched the humans lamenting their mistakes and began to feel a twinge of sympathy for them. Flying straight to one with a pure heart, Mew the goddess gave the child all her power and handed over a single flute.

"When the law is broken, go play that flute at the top of this mountain. When you do, the Hall of Origins will be open to you. When you have entered it, the chance for you to be forgiven will arrive.

Choose between the Red Chain, the Crown or simply to leave it all untouched. One will spell salvation; another will bestow great honour and the last destruction so chose with the utmost caution. And if you regret your choice, return and play the flute once more and we, the pokemon by your side shall aid you."

And with that Mew flew away, leaving the humans to decide their own fate.

...

_Cultural notes: The 18 pillars is one of the most famous stories within the Genesis writings, the oldest collections of teachings in the book of Arceus and one of the most wide spread stories in Arcayism, though recently discovered Mew__tōian temples in North-western Kanto pre-dating all known Sinnoh versions of the__ myth have been found with mosaics and engravings greatly resembling events in the story inside, leading some to question whether the tale, despite it seemingly referring to Mt Coronet in Sinnoh, may in fact be describing the Mt Silver range in between Johto and Kanto, and may have once been a Mew__tōian legend that was incorporated into Arcayist culture._

_Extra notes: Due the age of the tale and to the dramatically changing attitude towards certain kinds of pokemon and other things deemed 'un-natural' within the 17__th__ century Arcayist church, the passages referring to Dark and Poison type pokemon were changed to much more villainous sounding passages, describing Dark types as 'loyal even to the devil' and Poison types 'those who feed on misfortune'. Both passages fueled misconceptions surrounding the nature of two types, and to this day are stereotypes that are often invoked by criminals catching such pokemon, hoping for ones that are 'as naturally aggressive as they should be'._

...

**Author's note:** Well, that one was a whole lot of fun; though I personally found writing the notes of where the story came from my favourite part of this~

As for why I wrote Dark and Poison types the way I did, well... In the case of Poison I've always imagined that since poison types only seem to appear when things become polluted that they actually exist for the purpose of eating/absorbing the pollution and returning nature to its normal healthy state, kinda like how fungi and bacteria are actually there for speeding up the decomposition of dead plants and animals, and by doing so help make more food for plants nearby, which in turn means more food for the animals.  
>This, aside from the fact that there are many poisonous plants, is probably who there are so many grasspoison types; when the forests get polluted, those pokemon can help clean it up by eating the pollution itself. Using that idea in turn, can also explain where some of the weirder pure poison pokemon come from; grass/poison pokemon comes to live in the city, finds enough pollution to feed it without it needing the sunlight (which it might not get enough of due to only coming out at night, being in the sewers, etc) and mutates until it can only feed on the pollution itself.

As for Dark types, well, I've always thought of them as loyal since most are canines or resemble animals that tend to live in large social groups, but in the end what convinced me of it was the Absol.

Seriously, all pokemon help people but Absol **really** go out of their way to help to the point that they're viewed as the disaster themselves; and yet even though they get attacked, they still put themselves at enormous risk trying to help humans. Why? It can't just be instinct because odds are the ones that do the warning get killed and thus they'd stop doing eventually, and they never seem to get anything from it so what reason other than sheer compassion could there be..?  
>My theory is loyalty. Maybe some great ancestor Absol made some sort of binding contract with Arceus, or maybe it's some sort of lasting custom ('You aren't a <strong>real Absol<strong> until you pledge to do this, etc') but either way that would give them a reason as to why they still try to warn humans even though normally all their instincts would be screaming at them to run as far away as possible.

The loyalty thing was also inspired by the fact that a lot of 'villains' in the games do use dark types. I mean, if your stupid horrible trainer was constantly being abusive to you (according the games the grunts usually are) and was constantly losing every battle they entered you in, why would you stay? Fear maybe, but since I was already thinking 'dark is loyal' at this point, the idea that maybe said dark type pokemon made a promise to his/her kid trainer to always stay by their side and then sometime later said kid turned into a monster... well, there's just something tragically loyal about that that really appeals to me. The hard times as well as the happy ones, you know?

*sniffs*

Anyway, hope you all liked this babble of mine and I look forward to getting some feedback from you all~ If there's any idea you think would make a good folklore kind of thing to put into the pokemon world, please tell me about it and I'll see what I can do~ X3


End file.
